Tamerlane (Timur; April 9, 1336, village of Khoja-Ilgar, modern Uzbekistan - February 18, 1405, Otrar, modern Kazakhstan; Chagatai تیمور (Temür, Tēmōr) - “iron”) - Central Asian conqueror who played a significant role in history . Outstanding commander, emir (since 1370). Founder of the Timurid empire and dynasty, with its capital in Samarkand.
Tamerlane was born into a family of hereditary Mongol warriors. Since childhood, he had a limp on his left leg. Despite the fact that he came from a completely unremarkable and not noble family, and even had a physical handicap, Timur achieved high ranks in the Mongol Khanate. The year was 1370. Tamerlane became head of government. He overthrew the khan and seized power over the Dzhagatai ulus. After this, he openly declared that he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. For the next thirty-five years he conquered new lands. He suppressed riots and expanded his power.
Tamerlane differed from Genghis Khan in that he did not unite all the captured lands together. However, he left behind colossal destruction. Tamerlane erected pyramids from enemy skulls. This showed his strength and power. Tamerlane decided to take all the loot to the fortress in Samarkand. Timur turned Samarkand into a cultural center. The conqueror greatly appreciated literature and art. However, this did not lessen his cruelty. He and his army were bloodthirsty barbarians.
Tamerlane began to seize lands from nearby tribes. Then he started a war with Persia. In nine years he conquered Iran, Mesopotamia, Armenia and Georgia. An uprising broke out in Persia, but Timur quickly suppressed it. He killed all opponents. He burned women and children, devastated cities. Tamerlane was an excellent tactician, strategist and commander. He knew how to raise the morale of soldiers. By the way, his army numbered about a hundred thousand people. The military organization was a bit like that of Genghis Khan's time. The main ones were cavaliers, armed with bows and swords. Spare horses carried supplies in case of a long trip.
In 1389, Tamerlane invaded India. Most likely due to a love of war and killing, as well as imperial ambitions. He captured Delhi. He carried out a massacre there and destroyed what he could not take to Samarkand. It took a century for India to recover from this senseless massacre and loss. Tamerlane was still out for blood and killed one hundred thousand captured soldiers in India.
In 1401 Timur captured Syria. Killed twenty thousand inhabitants of Damascus. A year later he defeated Sultan Bayezid I. Even then, the countries that were not conquered by Timur recognized his power. Byzantium and Egypt paid him so that he would not destroy their countries.
Tamerlane's empire was even larger than Genghis Khan's empire once was. The conqueror's palace was full of riches. And although Timur was over sixty, he decided to conquer China. However, this plan failed. Before the campaign, the conqueror died. According to the will, the empire was divided between his grandchildren and sons. Tamerlane was, of course, a talented leader and warrior, but he left behind nothing but scorched earth and pyramids of skulls.
Name: Timur Tamerlan
Age: 68 years old
Place of Birth: Khoja-Ilgar, Kesh, Uzbekistan
A place of death: Otra, Kazakhstan
Activity: commander and conqueror
Family status: was married
Timur Tamerlan - biography
March marked the 680th anniversary of the birth of the man who defeated the Golden Horde. Timur Tamerlane was not a descendant of Genghis Khan, but continued his work. He was lame, but he walked halfway around the world. His armies wreaked havoc from the Bosporus to the Ganges, building walls of corpses and pyramids of skulls. Six centuries later, his deeds were almost forgotten, but his name remained in the memory of all peoples, short and stern, like the blow of a scimitar - Timur-Leng, the Iron Lame.
Women of the Barlas clan lived in houses, but according to the law of their ancestors, they went to felt yurts to give birth. The future conqueror of Asia was born in such a yurt. This happened in March 1336 near the city of Shakhrisyabz, which was then called Keshch. Its ruler, Taragai, was the father of the child; history has not preserved the mother’s name - the Turkic emir had many wives and concubines. A hundred years earlier, the Mongol hordes captured the lands of Central Asia, dividing them between the three Genghisid khans - Jochi, Chagatai and Hulagu.
The nomadic nobility mercilessly robbed the settled population and called them “sarts” - slaves. At the same time, the Mongols quickly adopted the customs of more cultured local peoples. After just a couple of generations, nomads in China could not be distinguished from the Chinese, in Iran - from the Persians, and in Maverannahr, present-day Uzbekistan, from the local Turks. Therefore, the newborn son of Taragai received the Turkic name Timur - “iron”. But his hair was red, like Genghis; it seems that both had European Scythian ancestors.
Since childhood, Timur lived up to his name, showing strength and courage in boyish games. The ruler's son learned to wield all types of weapons, hunt, and ride bareback. At the same time, he - an unprecedented thing - learned to read and attended lessons from learned ulema. They told him about the vast world outside Transoxiana - about the great city of Constantinople, about the wonders of India and China. Perhaps even then he had a dream to conquer this world. But in any case, military service had to start from the basics.
At the age of 12, Timur entered service in the army of the Chagatai Khanate, which at that time was ruled by Khan Bayan-Kuli. Year after year, the young man mastered military science, became a centurion, and then a thousand-man minbaschi. He selected the best warriors for his detachment, selflessly devoted to him. When the ruler of neighboring Mogolistan (present-day Kyrgyzstan) Togluk-Timur invaded the country in 1359, Bayan-Kuli expected the faithful thousand-man to drive back the enemy.
However, Timur was not only brave, but also calculating. He knew that the khan had no chance of winning, and in time he chose the side of the strongest. A couple of weeks later, Bayan’s head stuck out on a peak in front of the palace, and the captain of a thousand with rich gifts was visiting Togluk-Timur’s yurt. This allowed Timur to maintain his detachment and possessions inherited after the death of his father.
But the peace was short-lived. In those years, all of Asia was in motion. China overthrew the Mongol khans, in Iran the descendants of Hulagu were pressed by rebel sarbadars (that is, “hanged men”). Moscow Prince Dmitry accumulated strength to overthrow the power of the Golden Horde. At that moment, the road to power was open to the strong and dexterous, and Timur did not miss his chance. To begin with, he became related to the ruler of Samarkand, Emir Hussein, taking his sister Uljay-Turkan as his wife. Together they rebelled against Togluk-Timur, but were defeated.
Timur fled to the Tajik mountains, taking his beloved wife with him; He hid his two sons in a safe place, placing them in the care of a deaf-mute servant. For several years he, with a small detachment, served as a mercenary for various eastern sovereigns. During one of his campaigns in Sistan, enemies fired at him with arrows. He survived, but was seriously injured - his right arm lost half of its strength, and a ligament in his leg, broken by an arrow, left him lame forever. Since then, his name was Lame Timur - Temir-Aksak in Turkic, Timur-Leng in Persian. In European languages he became Tamerlane.
Despite the injuries, Timur did not lose influence over his soldiers. He was strict but fair, generously rewarded the faithful, and the blacksmiths defeated the Mongols. Right at the feast in honor of the victory, Timur killed his “agitators” - the Sarbadar leaders - he did not need rivals. However, it turned out that Hussein did not really need him either, who did not very politely expel his ally from the city. After the death of Tamerlane's wife Uljay-Turkan, who somehow reconciled her brothers-in-arms, open war began between them. As a result, after many campaigns and skirmishes in 1370, Hussein was stabbed to death by two of his close associates at night. When they came to Timur for a reward, he ordered to strangle them, saying: “He who betrays once will betray again.”
According to Eastern custom, Timur took all the property of the killed enemy, including his wife Mulk Khanum. He made Samarkand his capital, from where he began the conquest of Central Asia. First, a battle-hardened army moved against Togluk Timur and captured his country. Then Timur achieved the subjugation of Khorezm by marrying his eldest son Jahangir to the daughter of the Khorezm ruler. Then it was the turn of the ruler of Semirechye Kamar Addin - he had to give his beautiful daughter Dilshod-aga as a wife to the winner.
At the same time, Timur helped the Siberian prince Tokhtamysh to overthrow Mamai, defeated on the Kulikovo field, and take the throne of the Golden Horde. When the North fell into Timur's power, he turned his troops south to Iran and Afghanistan. After three campaigns, these countries were conquered. Meanwhile, Timur managed to catch the warrior who had once crippled him. The unforgiving Iron Lame ordered the enemy to be tied to a tree and shot with bows.
Having become the ruler of a vast territory, Timur did not accept the title of khan: according to custom, only a descendant of Genghis Khan could become one. He himself limited himself to the more modest title of emir, but in reality his power was unlimited. Timur made a huge 500,000-strong army the backbone of the state - in every family one of the men had to go to military service. He distributed to brave warriors for hereditary possession the lands taken from rebels and cowards. His associates and relatives were given control of provinces and even entire countries.
The affairs of the entire state were managed by the Divan (council), which included viziers, military leaders and theologians. Once a week, Timur attended council meetings, participating in resolving all issues. When appointed to high positions, he did not pay attention to birth - one of his viziers was Hamid Agha, the son of a baker. The main criteria were diligence and devotion. But even the most devoted ones faced death if they robbed the population in peacetime or put their hand into the treasury. “My law is the same for everyone,” the emir said, and this was in fact true.
Timur's main hobby was decorating his capital. He called experienced architects, engineers, and artists from all over the world to Samarkand. Through their efforts, such magnificent buildings were erected as the ensemble of the main Registan square, the Gur-Emir tomb and the huge Bibi-Khanym mosque, which was later destroyed by an earthquake. Timur regularly visited construction sites and monitored the progress of work. Even more often, he gathered learned people who gave him lectures on a variety of topics.
Historian Hafizi Abru states: “Timur deeply knew the history of the Persians and Turks. He valued all knowledge that could be of practical use, that is, medicine, astronomy and mathematics, and paid special attention to architecture.” He is echoed by his contemporary Arabshchakh: “Timur revered scientists and poets and showed them special favor... He entered into scientific discussions with them, and in disputes he was fair and courteous.” It is worth noting that he was the first of the eastern rulers to write (or, more precisely, dictate) his autobiography. In addition to scientific disputes, Timur loved the game of chess and gave his beloved youngest son the name Shahrukh - “chess rook”.
But one should not imagine him as a kind and fair “father of nations.” Taking care of the center of his state, Timur mercilessly ravaged its outskirts. After the relative tolerance of the Mongol khans, he raised the banner of Muslim fanaticism. Having assigned himself the title of “ghazi” (defender of the faith), he declared war on all “infidels” - subjects had to convert to Islam or die. His anger also fell on the Iranian shields, whom he considered heretics.
In 1387, he attacked the city of Isfahan and killed 70 thousand people there. A high tower was subsequently erected from their heads. Timur henceforth used this barbaric custom in all conquered countries in order to intimidate the local population. But such cruelty cannot be explained by political calculations alone; there is something sadistic in it. Perhaps the influence of schizophrenia - all the sons of Timur, except Shahrukh, suffered from this disease. However, it could also be that the emir was simply infuriated by the stubborn disobedience of his subjects - he had to take Isfahan three times, and make as many as four campaigns against Khorezm.
Meanwhile, while Timur was plundering Iran, his empire was attacked by the ruler of the Horde, Khan Tokhtamysh. Rus' almost stopped paying tribute, and the khan urgently needed rich booty. Attacking from the north, he plundered many cities and almost took Samarkand, which Prince Miranshah barely managed to defend. Having returned, Timur made a return campaign against the Volga, but the Horde easily escaped from the clumsy foot army. Then Timur turned back to Iran and finally conquered it, reaching Baghdad. At this time, the restless Tokhtamysh attacked from the other side, from behind the Caucasus Mountains.
In 1395, Timur's huge army moved north to put an end to the khan once and for all. One after another, the cities of the Caucasus and Volga region turned into ruins, and in August the emir’s army approached the borders of Russia. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich began hastily gathering an army, but the forces were unequal. The first on the path of the conquerors was little Yelets - it fell after two days of resistance. Timur ordered to kill all men and boys taller than the cart axle (approximately 70 cm), and took the rest into captivity. Other cities awaited the same fate with trepidation, but Timur unexpectedly turned his army back.
For this miracle they thanked the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God brought to Moscow - since then it has become one of the most revered in Rus'. But in fact, Timur had no intention of moving on, and besides, he was in a hurry to leave a foreign country before the cold weather. The goal of his campaign - to defeat the enemy troops - was achieved. Tokhtamysh fled to Siberia, where he died.
After this, Timur attacked rich and populous India. The Muslim Tughlaqid dynasty ruled there, which the emir accused of conniving with the “infidel” Hindus. In the summer of 1398, his army launched an offensive from the west, one after another, destroying the fortresses of the warlike Rajputs. Before they died, Hindus threw their wives and children into the flames so that they would not fall to their enemies. Timur's warriors cut off the heads of the living and the dead and methodically built pyramids from them. In December, the emir approached Delhi, where he was met by hundreds of Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq's war elephants.
Timur ordered to shower them with a hail of arrows wrapped in burning tow; Frightened, the animals rushed back and trampled their own army. The city surrendered without resistance, but Timur still gave it up for plunder. It all ended in a fire, after which only the spiers of the minarets remained from the huge city - they, along with the mosques, were forbidden to touch under pain of death. Then the army moved at a snail's pace, burdened with a huge number of prisoners. When Timur realized that the prisoners were depriving the army of mobility, he ordered them all to be killed - 100 thousand people died.
Having reached the border of the jungle, the army turned back. Thousands of camels carried looted loot to Samarkand. Along the way, we passed a huge pile of stones - when going to India, each warrior threw a stone on the ground. On the way back, the survivors took one stone at a time, and the losses could be judged from the rest. It must be said that Timur always tried to establish accounting and control in his possessions. He sold the goods exported from India, primarily spices, with enormous profit in the markets of the Middle East.
The emir planned to establish relations with Europe, sending proposals to the kings of England and France to establish trade relations. At the same time, the emir proposed that European rulers unite in an alliance against Ottoman Turkey, which was now Timur’s main opponent. The Turkish Sultan Bayezid, having defeated Christians in Eastern Europe, turned his weapons against his co-religionists and threatened Iraq. His ally, the Egyptian Sultan Barkuk, killed Timur's ambassadors, which in the East was considered a grave insult. The emir's reaction, as always, was quick. Soon Barkuk was poisoned, and Tamerlane's 400,000-strong army moved from Samarkand to the west.
The western provinces were ruled by Timur's son Miranshah, but he suffered from seizures and eventually went completely mad. Taking advantage of this, residents of Iraq and Syria refused to pay taxes and threatened to go over to Bayezid's side. With the appearance of Timur, a bloody massacre awaited them. Baghdad was burned, and the heads of 90 thousand of its inhabitants were placed in another tower. Syrian Aleppo surrendered after the emir promised not to shed the blood of Muslims. Timur kept his word: only the Christian population was slaughtered, and the Muslims were buried alive in the ground.
The conquerors were especially atrocious in Georgia and Armenia, where churches were burned or converted into mosques. Two thousand Armenians were burned in the city of Dvin. In the spring of 1402, Timur invaded Anatolia and besieged the Sivas fortress. After its capture, the Muslims were pardoned for a change, and the Christians were buried alive. In July of the same year, the armies of Timur and Bayezid met near the current Turkish capital of Ankara. The Sultan's army, into which the Greeks and Serbs were forcibly mobilized, was even larger than that of his enemy.
In total, about a million people took part in the battle, of whom 150 thousand died. The massacre continued for more than a day, until Timur’s more experienced and organized army put the enemy to flight. Bayezid himself was captured and led to the victor in chains. Timur looked at the hunched figure of the Sultan and his yellow face - Bayezid had a diseased liver. “Great is Allah! - said the emir. “He wanted to divide the world between a cripple and an ailing old man.”
The Sultan was put in a cage and sent to Samarkand - according to rumors, Timur planned to set up something like a zoo for the overthrown rulers there. Bayezid died on the road, and his heirs fought with each other for a long time. Against his will, the “defender of the Muslim faith” Timur became an ally of Christian Byzantium: having defeated the Turkish army, he delayed the fall of Constantinople for half a century.
In 1403, the Iron Lame returned to Samarkand. The city still flourished, but this did not please the aging ruler. He was tormented by pain in his wounded leg and was tormented by thoughts about the fragility of his power. Who should leave a huge empire, in different parts of which riots broke out every now and then? The eldest son Jahangir died before he turned eighteen, and his two brothers also went to the grave. The mad Miranshah lived out his days under strict supervision. Shahrukh remained - soft, compliant, not at all like his father. His mother, the young nomadic princess Dilshodaga, also died. How fleeting is human life! But Timur has not yet realized all his plans.
At the very beginning of 1405, the armies set out on the campaign again. Their goal was China - there awaited riches that had not yet been plundered and millions of “infidels” who needed to be converted to Islam. To lead the campaign, Timur arrived in the city of Otrar on the border of the steppes, but unexpectedly fell ill and died on February 18 in terrible agony. His body was taken to Samarkand and buried in the Gur-Emir mausoleum.
For many centuries in the East there was a belief: whoever disturbs the ashes of the conqueror will cause a terrible, unprecedented war. But Soviet archaeologists, led by Mikhail Gerasimov, did not pay attention to these warnings. Scientists began opening the tomb of Tamerlane early in the morning June 22, 1941!
After the Victory, the work was completed. Using a cast from the skull bones, Gerasimov was able to restore the appearance of Tamerlane. Visitors to the Moscow Historical Museum saw high cheekbones, narrow tiger eyes, and sternly compressed lips. This was a real god of war, the ruler of a huge empire, for the greatness of which its subjects paid with millions of lives.
Tamerlane was called "ruler of the world." He was one of the greatest conquerors in world history. This man combined incredible ruthlessness and a keen understanding of art and science.
"The Iron Lame"
The great Emir Timur, the founder of the Timurid Empire, went down in history under the name “Timur-e Leng or Tamerlane,” which translates as “iron lame.” According to legend, there was dried blood in the clenched fist of the newborn Tamerlane. The boy’s father, a former warrior Taragai (“Lark”), immediately realized that the path of a great warrior awaited his son, and named the newborn Timur (the Turkic version of the Mongolian Temur - “Iron”).
This name contains a deep sacred meaning and is rooted in the religious traditions of the Turkic peoples, for whom iron has always been a sacred matter. According to some Asian legends, there is an iron mountain at the center of the world, and the “eternal kingdom” in Mongolian mythology is called “like iron.” In addition, it is important to take into account that Timur was born into the Barlas tribe, where pagan beliefs were still preserved, and the name given at birth determined the future path of life.
The nickname Leng (lame) stuck to Timur after the Persian campaign and was offensive in nature, indicating the warrior’s injury - improperly fused bones of his right leg after one of the battles. Since then, the invincible emir was proudly called the derogatory name Tamerlane.
Educated Tyrant
Timur, despite his reputation as a “bloody barbarian,” was a very educated ruler. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he was fluent in spoken Turkic, Persian and Mongolian languages. According to other sources, he did not know how to read and write, but loved the arts and fine literature, attracted scientists, artists, artisans and engineers with his convictions and by force, considering them the best prey.
It was under Timur that Samarkand became the “Shining Star of the East” - one of the main cultural centers in Asia. Surprisingly, Tamerlane loved his capital, despite the fact that he was from the steppe Normads, who preferred not to confine themselves to city walls.
Biographers of the great emir say that the active construction that he carried out in Samarkand was a way for him to forget everything that he destroyed and ruined. Through his efforts, a huge library, the Koksarai Palace and many other attractions of the city that have survived to this day appeared in Samarkand. As if confirming the unshakable power of its founder, the inscription on the door of Tamerlane’s palace read: “If you doubt our power, look at our buildings.”
Spiritual teacher of Tamerlane
Tamerlane’s thirst for knowledge did not appear out of nowhere. Even as a child, he was surrounded by wise mentors, among whom was the descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the Sufi sage Mir Said Barak. It was he who presented Tamerlane with symbols of power (a drum and a banner), predicting a great future for him.
The “Guru” was almost always close to the great emir, accompanying him even on military campaigns. He blessed Timur for the decisive battle with Tokhtamysh. There is a legend that already during the battle, when the latter began to gain the upper hand over Timur, Said Barak poured sand in front of the khan’s army and he was defeated. They say that he warned his student against the battle with Dmitry Donskoy, and, as you know, Timur turned his troops around and went to the Crimea, without going further into the territory of Rus'.
Tamerlane deeply respected his teacher. He bequeathed to him his place of honor in the family mausoleum Gur-Emir Said Barak, and ordered himself to be buried at his feet, so that he would intercede for him, a great sinner, at the Last Judgment.
Banner of Timur
The banner, a symbol of Tamerlane's power, had enormous religious significance. In the Turkic tradition they believed that this was the spirit of the army. Losing it meant losing the opportunity to resist the enemy.
The banner also served as a call to war. If the emir posted him at his tent - there would be war, immediately his entire family hurried to arm themselves, and messengers flew to the allied villages.
Tamerlane's banner featured three rings arranged in the shape of an equilateral triangle. Their meaning is still not clear. Some historians believe that it could symbolize earth, water and sky. Perhaps the circles represent the three parts of the world (according to those ideas - all parts of the world), which Tamerlane owns, that is, the banner meant that the whole world belongs to Tamerlane. The Spanish diplomat and traveler Clavijo testifies to this in the 16th century.
There is a legend that in the battle of Ankara with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid, the latter exclaimed: “What audacity to think that the whole world belongs to you!”, to which he received the answer: “Even greater audacity to think that the moon belongs to you.”
There were also more mythological interpretations of this symbol. Nicholas Roerich saw in it a sign of the “trinity”, which is quite universal in many cultures: Turkic, Celtic, Indian and many others.
Beloved wife
Tamerlane had eighteen wives - in the best traditions of the Muslim world. One of the favorites was Saray-mulk khanum, which once belonged to Timur’s closest ally, and then to his worst enemy, Emir Hussein. The woman became Tamerlane's prey after the death of her first husband, but fell in love with the conqueror and soon became his main wife. She was by no means a quiet wife - at court her role was significant, she could save a person with her grace or kill him. For a while, only she could meet her husband from his hikes, which was considered a great privilege. At the same time, she never gave birth to children to the great conqueror.
In many ways, it was the influence of Saray-mulk khanum that ensured the “golden age” of culture in the era of Tamerlane. She was a true patroness of the sciences and arts. It is Mulk Khanum who will raise Tamerlane's grandson Timur Ulugbek into a wise ruler. Under her, active construction will be carried out in Samarkand. The cathedral mosque Bibi-Khanym is named after her, which means “Lady Grandmother” - one of the names of Saray-mulk Khanum.
Merciful executioner
If we dwell on the above, then we would see a great ruler for whom everyone smiles. He is wise, talented, and his deeds are always good. He created a peaceful, stable, prosperous and rich state. But this is an unfinished portrait of Tamerlane.
Sources have brought to us many references to his bloody deeds, which at one time inspired Vereshchagin to create his famous painting “The Apotheosis of War”. One day Timur decided to erect a monument to his own victories, ordering the construction of a ten-meter pyramid of severed heads. He became the executioner of the flourishing cities of the East: Isfahan, Delhi, Damascus, Baghdad, Astrakhan. It is still completely unknown to which people Tamerlane belonged. According to the most common version, he belonged to the Turkic Barlas tribe. But the few surviving descriptions of his appearance do not correspond to his image as a Mongol. Thus, the historian Ibn Arabshah, captured by the emir, reports that Timur was tall, had a large head, a high forehead, was very strong and brave, strongly built, with broad shoulders. The historian describes the skin color of the conqueror as “white.”
The anthropological reconstruction of the remains of Tamerlane, which was carried out by the famous Soviet anthropologist Gerasimov, concludes: “The discovered skeleton belonged to a strong man, too tall for an Asian (about 170 cm). The fold of the eyelid, the most characteristic feature of the Turkic face, is relatively weakly expressed. The nose is straight, small, slightly flattened; lips are thick, contemptuous. Hair is gray-red, with a predominance of dark brown or red. The type of face is not Mongoloid.” The results of this paradoxical study were published in Gerasimov's article "Portrait of Tamerlane." We won’t risk judging how true this portrait is to reality; one thing is clear - not all the secrets of the “iron lame” have yet been revealed.
Timur, the son of a bek from the Turkified Mongolian Barlas tribe, was born in Kesh (modern Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan), southwest of Bukhara. His father had a small ulus. The name of the Central Asian conqueror comes from the nickname Timur Leng (Lame Timur), which was associated with his lameness in his left leg. Since childhood, he persistently engaged in military exercises and at the age of 12 began going on hikes with his father. He was a zealous Mohammedan, which played a significant role in his fight against the Uzbeks.
Timur early showed his military abilities and ability not only to command people, but also to subjugate them to his will. In 1361, he entered the service of Khan Togluk, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. He owned large territories in Central Asia. Quite soon, Timur became an adviser to the khan’s son Ilyas Khoja and the ruler (viceroy) of the Kashkadarya vilayet in the domain of Khan Togluk. By that time, the son of the bek from the Barlas tribe already had his own detachment of mounted warriors.
But after some time, having fallen into disgrace, Timur with his military detachment of 60 people fled across the Amu Darya River to the Badakhshan Mountains. There his squad was replenished. Khan Togluk sent a detachment of a thousand in pursuit of Timur, but he, having fallen into a well-arranged ambush, was almost completely exterminated in battle by Timur’s soldiers.
Gathering his forces, Timur concluded a military alliance with the ruler of Balkh and Samarkand, Emir Hussein, and began a war with Khan Togluk and his son-heir Ilyas Khoja, whose army consisted mainly of Uzbek warriors. The Turkmen tribes sided with Timur, giving him numerous cavalry. Soon he declared war on his ally Samarkand Emir Hussein and defeated him.
Timur captured Samarkand, one of the largest cities in Central Asia, and intensified military operations against the son of Khan Togluk, whose army, according to exaggerated data, numbered about 100 thousand people, but 80 thousand of them formed garrisons of fortresses and almost did not participate in field battles. Timur's cavalry squad numbered only about 2 thousand people, but they were experienced warriors. In a series of battles, Timur defeated the Khan's troops, and by 1370 their remnants retreated across the Syr River.
After these successes, Timur resorted to military stratagem, which was a brilliant success. On behalf of the khan's son, who commanded Togluk's troops, he sent out an order to the commandants of the fortresses to leave the fortresses entrusted to them and to retreat beyond the Syr River with the garrison troops. So, with the help of military cunning, Timur cleared all the enemy fortresses of the khan’s troops.
In 1370, a kurultai was convened, at which the rich and noble Mongol owners elected a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, Kobul Shah Aglan, as khan. However, Timur soon removed him from his path. By that time, he had significantly replenished his military forces, primarily at the expense of the Mongols, and could now lay claim to independent khan power.
In the same 1370, Timur became emir in Transoxiana, a region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, and ruled on behalf of the descendants of Genghis Khan, relying on the army, nomadic nobility and Muslim clergy. He made the city of Samarkand his capital.
Timur began preparing for large campaigns of conquest by organizing a strong army. At the same time, he was guided by the combat experience of the Mongols and the rules of the great conqueror Genghis Khan, which his descendants had completely forgotten by that time.
Timur began his struggle for power with a detachment of 313 soldiers loyal to him. They formed the backbone of the command staff of the army he created: 100 people began to command dozens of soldiers, 100 hundreds and the last 100 thousand. Timur's closest and most trusted associates received senior military positions.
He paid special attention to the selection of military leaders. In his army, the foremen were chosen by the dozen soldiers themselves, but Timur personally appointed the centurions, thousand and higher-ranking commanders. “A leader whose power is weaker than a whip and stick is unworthy of the title,” said the Central Asian conqueror.
His army, unlike the troops of Genghis Khan and Batu Khan, received a salary. An ordinary warrior received from two to four times the price of horses. The size of such a salary was determined by the service performance of the soldier. The foreman received the salary of his dozen and therefore was personally interested in the proper performance of service by his subordinates. The centurion received the salary of six foremen and so on.
There was also a system of awards for military distinctions. This could be the praise of the emir himself, an increase in salary, valuable gifts, rewarding with expensive weapons, new ranks and honorary titles such as, for example, Brave or Bogatyr. The most common punishment was the withholding of a tenth of the salary for a specific disciplinary offense.
Timur's cavalry, which formed the basis of his army, was divided into light and heavy. Simple light-horse warriors were required to be armed with a bow, 18-20 arrows, 10 arrowheads, an axe, a saw, an awl, a needle, a lasso, a tursuk (water bag) and a horse. For 19 such warriors on a campaign, one wagon was relied upon. Selected Mongol warriors served in the heavy cavalry. Each of her warriors had a helmet, iron protective armor, a sword, a bow and two horses. For five such horsemen there was one wagon. In addition to the mandatory weapons, there were pikes, maces, sabers and other weapons. The Mongols carried everything they needed for camping on spare horses.
Light infantry appeared in the Mongol army under Timur. These were horse archers (carrying 30 arrows) who dismounted before the battle. Thanks to this, shooting accuracy increased. Such mounted riflemen were very effective in ambushes, during military operations in the mountains and during the siege of fortresses.
Timur's army was distinguished by a well-thought-out organization and a strictly defined order of formation. Each warrior knew his place in the ten, ten in the hundred, hundred in the thousand. Individual units of the army differed in the color of their horses, the color of their clothes and banners, and their combat equipment. According to the laws of Genghis Khan, before the campaign, the soldiers were given a strict review.
During campaigns, Timur took care of reliable military guards in order to avoid a surprise attack by the enemy. On the way or at a stop, security detachments were separated from the main forces at a distance of up to five kilometers. From them, patrol posts were sent out even further, which, in turn, sent mounted sentries ahead.
Being an experienced commander, Timur chose flat terrain, with sources of water and vegetation, for the battles of his predominantly cavalry army. He lined up the troops for battle so that the sun did not shine in the eyes and thus did not blind the archers. He always had strong reserves and flanks to encircle the enemy drawn into battle.
Timur began the battle with light cavalry, which bombarded the enemy with a cloud of arrows. After this, horse attacks began, which followed one after another. When the opposing side began to weaken, a strong reserve consisting of heavy armored cavalry was brought into battle. Timur said: “The ninth attack gives victory.” This was one of his main rules in the war.
Timur began his campaigns of conquest beyond his original possessions in 1371. By 1380, he had made 9 military campaigns, and soon all neighboring regions inhabited by Uzbeks and most of the territory of modern Afghanistan came under his rule. Any resistance to the Mongol army was cruelly punished; commander Timur left behind enormous destruction and erected pyramids from the heads of defeated enemy warriors.
In 1376, Emir Timur provided military assistance to the descendant of Genghis Khan, Tokhtamysh, as a result of which the latter became one of the khans of the Golden Horde. However, Tokhtamysh soon repaid his patron with black ingratitude.
The Emir's Palace in Samarkand was constantly replenished with treasures. It is believed that Timur brought to his capital up to 150 thousand of the best craftsmen from the conquered countries, who built numerous palaces for the emir, decorating them with paintings depicting the aggressive campaigns of the Mongol army.
In 1386, Emir Timur launched a campaign of conquest in the Caucasus. Near Tiflis, the Mongol army fought with the Georgian army and won a complete victory. The capital of Georgia was destroyed. The defenders of the Vardzia fortress, the entrance to which led through the dungeon, put up brave resistance to the conquerors. Georgian soldiers repulsed all enemy attempts to break into the fortress through an underground passage. The Mongols managed to take Vardzia with the help of wooden platforms, which they lowered on ropes from the neighboring mountains. At the same time as Georgia, neighboring Armenia was also conquered.
In 1388, after long resistance, Khorezm fell and its capital Urgench was destroyed. Now all the lands along the Jeyhun (Amu Darya) river from the Pamir Mountains to the Aral Sea became the possessions of Emir Timur.
In 1389, the cavalry army of the Samarkand emir made a campaign in the steppes to Lake Balkhash, in the territory of Semirechye in the south of modern Kazakhstan.
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One of the most outstanding Turkic statesmen and commanders was the great Tamerlane (Timur, Amir Teymur, Timur Gurigan, Teymur-leng, Aksak Teymur) - the Central Asian ruler and conqueror.
Tamerlane was born on April 8, 1336 in the village of Khoja-Ilgar near the city of Kesh (Kish). He came from a noble Turkic-Mongolian family Barlas (Barulas). His father, Targai, was a military man and a feudal lord. Tamerlane had no school education and was illiterate, but he knew the Koran by heart and was a connoisseur of culture.
During Tamerlane's childhood, the Turkic Chagatai ulus collapsed. In Transoxiana, power was seized by the Turkic emirs, under whom the Chagatai khans were only nominal rulers. In 1348, the Mogul (Chagatai) emirs enthroned Khan Tughluk-Timur, who became the ruler of East Turkestan and Semirechye. This led to new civil strife, during which Turkic and Mogul rulers fought for power in Chagatai.
The first head of the Central Asian Turkic-Mogul emirs was Kazagan (1348-1360). During the same period, Timur entered the service of the ruler of Kesh, Hadji Barlas. In 1360, Transoxiana was conquered by Tughluk-Timur, as a result of which Hadji Barlas had to leave Kesh. Tamerlane entered into negotiations with the khan and was confirmed as the ruler of the Kesh region, but was forced to leave Kesh after the withdrawal of Tughluk-Timur’s troops and the return of Hadji-Barlas.
In 1361, the Khan's troops recaptured Transoxiana, and Hadji-Barlas fled to Khorasan, where he was killed. The following year, Tughluk-Timur left Transoxiana, transferring power in it to his son Ilyas-Hadji. Tamerlane was again confirmed as the ruler of Kesh and one of the prince’s assistants. However, after the departure of Tughluk-Timur, the Mughal emirs, led by Ilyas-Haji, conspired to eliminate Tamerlane. As a result, the latter had to retreat from the Moguls and go over to the side of the Turkic Emir Hussein, who was at war with them. The detachment of Hussein and Timur headed to Khorezm, but in the battle of Khiva they were defeated by the local Turkic ruler Tavakkala-Kungurot. Tamerlane and Hussein retreated with the remnants of their army into the desert. Later, near the village of Mahmudi, they were captured by the people of the local ruler, Alibek Dzhanikurban, in whose prison they spent 62 days. The prisoners were rescued by Alibek's elder brother, Emir Muhammadbek.
After this, Tamerlane and Hussein settled on the southern bank of the Amu Darya, where they waged a guerrilla war against the Moguls. During a clash with an enemy detachment near Seistan, Timur lost two fingers on his hand and was wounded in the leg, which made him lame (hence the nickname Timur-leng or Aksak Teymur, i.e. lame Timur).
In 1364, the Moguls left Transoxiana, where Timur and Hussein returned, placing Kabul Shah, who came from the Chagatai family (Çağatai), on the throne. However, the confrontation with the Moguls did not end there. On May 22, 1365, a major battle between the troops of Timur and Hussein took place with the Mogul army led by Ilyas-Khoja. During the battle there was a rainstorm, due to which the warriors got stuck in the mud. As a result, the opponents had to retreat to the opposite banks of the Syr Darya. Meanwhile, the Mogul army was expelled from Samarkand by local residents. The popular rule of the Serbedars was established in the city. Having learned about this, Timur and Hussein lured the leaders of the Serbedars to negotiations and executed them. Then the Samarkand uprising itself was suppressed. Maverannahr came under the authority of both rulers, who, however, wanted to rule individually. Hussein wanted to rule the Chagatai ulus like his predecessor, Kazagan, but power from time immemorial belonged to the Genghisids. Tamerlane opposed the change in customs and intended to proclaim himself emir, since this title was originally borne by representatives of the Barlas clan. The former allies began to prepare for battle.
Hussein moved to Balkh and began to strengthen the fortress, preparing for war with Timur. Hussein's attempt to defeat Timur by cunning failed. The latter gathered a strong army and crossed the Amu Darya, heading towards Balkh, along the way to which Timur was joined by many emirs. This weakened the position of Hussein, who lost many of his supporters. Soon Timur's army approached Balkh and, after bloody battles, took the city on April 10, 1370. Hussein was captured and killed. Tamerlane, who won the victory, proclaimed himself the emir of Transoxiana and located his residence in Samarkand. However, the wars with other Turkic and Mogul rulers did not end there.
Having united all of Transoxiana, Timur turned his attention to neighboring Khorezm, which did not recognize his authority. Timur was also worried about the situation on the northern and southern borders of Transoxiana, which were constantly harassed by the White Horde and the Moguls. However, at the same time, the neighboring Turkic cities of Tashkent and Balkh came under the supreme power of Timur-Amir, but at the same time Khorezm (also Turkic), relying on the support of the Kipchak nomads, continued to resist the emir. Timur tried to negotiate peacefully with the Khorezmian Turks, but, realizing the futility of trying to negotiate peacefully, he started a war against his rebellious neighbor. Timur-leng made five campaigns against Khorezm and finally conquered it in 1388.
Having achieved success in the fight against the Khorezmians, Timur decided to strike back at the Turkic ulus of Jochi (Golden and White Horde) and establish his power throughout the entire territory of the former Chagatai ulus. The moguls, led by Emir Kamariddin, had the same goals as Amir Timur. Mogul troops carried out constant attacks on Fergana, Tashkent, Turkestan, Andijan and other cities of Transoxiana. This led Timur to the need to curb the aggressive Moguls, as a result of which he made seven campaigns against them and finally defeated Moghulistan in 1390. Despite its defeat, Moghulistan retained its independence and continued to remain one of the many Turkic state formations in the Middle East.
Having secured the borders of Maverannahr from Mogul raids after his first campaigns, Tamerlane decided to begin a confrontation with the Jochi ulus, which by that time had broken up into the White and Golden Hordes. Amir Timur did his best to prevent the unification of these territories by pitting Urus Khan, the ruler of the White Horde, and Tokhtamysh, the leader of the Golden Horde, against each other. However, soon Tokhtamysh began to pursue a policy hostile to Transoxiana. This led to three wars between Timur and Tokhtamysh, ending in 1395 with the latter's crushing defeat. The largest battles in this war were the battles on Kondurch in 1391, and on the Terek in 1395, during which victory remained with Timur.
After the defeat inflicted by Timur, Tokhtamysh fled to Bulgaria, and Amir Timur, meanwhile, burned the capital of the Golden Horde - the city of Sarai-Batu, and transferred power in the Jochi ulus to the son of Urus Khan - Koyrichak-oglan. At the same time, he destroyed the Genoese colonies - Tanais and Caffa.
Having defeated the Golden Horde, Timur set out on a campaign to Rus'. His army crossed the Ryazan land and captured the city of Yelets. Then Tamerlane headed towards Moscow, but soon turned back and left Rus'. It is not known what prompted Tamerlane to leave Rus', but according to “Zafar-name” (“Book of Victories”), the reason for this was the pursuit of Horde troops, which were overtaken and finally defeated on the territory of Rus', and the conquest and plunder of Russian lands itself was not in the plans of the conqueror included.
Timur waged constant wars not only with the Moguls and the Horde. His very important opponent was the ruler of Herat, Ghiyasaddin Pir Ali II. Timur's attempts to negotiate peace led nowhere, and he had to start a war. In April 1380, Timur's army drove the Herati people out of Balkh; in February 1381, Timur occupied Khorasan, Jami, Kelat, Tuye, and then, after a short siege, he took Herat itself. In 1382, Tamerlane defeated the Khorasan state of the Serbedars, and in 1383 he ravaged the Seistan region, in which he stormed the fortresses of Zire, Zaveh, Bust and Farah. The following year, Timur conquered cities such as Astarabad, Amul, and Sari. In the same year, he reached Azerbaijan and captured one of its central cities, the capital of many Turkic states (Atabeks, Ilkhanids) of the Middle Ages - Tabriz. Together with these cities, a significant part of Iran came under the rule of Amir Timur. Following this, he carried out three-year, five-year and seven-year campaigns, during which he defeated the Horde, Moguls, Khorezmians, and defeated all of Northern India, Iran and Asia Minor.
In 1392, Tamerlane conquered the Caspian regions, and in 1393 he captured Baghdad, the western regions of Iran and Transcaucasia, at the head of which he placed his governors.
An important milestone in the history of Timur's conquests is the Indian campaign. In 1398, he went on a campaign against the Delhi Sultanate, defeated detachments of infidels, and near Delhi he defeated the Sultan’s army and occupied the city, which his army plundered. In 1399, Amir Timur reached the Ganges, but then turned the army back and returned to Samarkand with great booty.
In 1400, Timur began a war with the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid the Lightning, whose army captured the city of Arzinjan, a vassal city of Amir Timur, as well as with the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt Faraj. During the war with the Ottomans and Mamluks, Timur took the fortresses of Sivas, Aleppo (Aleppo), and in 1401 Damascus.
In 1402, in the Battle of Angora (near Ankara), Tamerlane completely defeated the army of Bayazid, and he himself was captured. At a time when the Ottomans were crushing the European troops one after another, Timur literally saved them from the Ottomans. In honor of Tamerlane's victory over Bayazid, the Pope ordered all bells in all Catholic churches in Europe to be rung for three days in a row. This bell rang over the Turkic tragedy - for it taught the Europeans how to defeat the Turks in the future, pitting them against each other...
...In 1403, Tamerlane ravaged Smyrna and then established order in the rebellious Baghdad. In 1404, Timur returned to Central Asia and began preparations for war with China. On November 27, 1404, his army entered the Chinese campaign, but in January 1405, the great commander died in Otrar. He was buried in the Gur-Emir mausoleum in Samarkand.
Nowadays, many people believe that Tamerlane was only involved in military campaigns, conquests and plunder of neighboring lands, but this is not so. For example, he restored many cities: Baghdad (Iraq), Derbent and Baylakan (Azerbaijan). Tamerlane also made a great contribution to the development of Samarkand, which he turned into the main trade and craft center of the Middle East. Amir Timur contributed to the development of Islamic culture, architecture and literature. During his reign, masterpieces of medieval Muslim architecture were built in Samarkand: the Gur-Emir and Shahi-Zinda mausoleums, the Rukhabad tomb, the Qutbi Chahardakhum tomb, the Bibi-Khanum madrasah, as well as many mosques, caravanserais, etc. Thanks to Tamerlane, the city was rebuilt Kesh (Kish, now Shakhrisabz), where cultural monuments of Timur’s era are located: the Dar us-Saadat tomb, the magnificent Ak-Saray palace, many madrassas and mosques.
In addition, Timur made a great contribution to the development of Bukhara, Shahrukhiya, Turkestan, Khujand and other Turkic cities. It should also be noted that under Tamerlane, such sciences as mathematics, medicine, astronomy, literature, and history became widespread. During the era of Timur, such cultural figures as astrologer Maulana (Movlana) Ahmad, theologian Ahmed al-Khorezmi, jurists Jazairi and Isamiddin and many others lived in Transoxiana. All this suggests that under Tamerlane not only were constant wars fought, but also Eastern culture flourished. Amir Timur had a great influence on the development of the entire Middle East, and he can rightfully be considered not only a great commander, but also one of the greatest Turkic statesmen in the history of mankind.
